2016 Reading Challenge

To get myself out of my comfort zone and read stuff I normally wouldn't read, I decided to participate in the 2015 reading challenge, a year later. (Seriously, the 2016 list only had 40 books on it, what's up with that?!). Because I like lists, keeping track of things and would love for others to get
involved, I will be posting the challenge here and edit the post throughout the year. I know not everyone might be looking to read 52 books in a year, so feel free to pick some of the categories that look appealing to you. Alternatively, you can also make book recommendations as for some of these, I really don't know what book I'll choose.

Progress: 52/521. A book with more than 500 pages Jonathan Franzen - Strong Motion 2. A classic romance L.M. Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables3. A book that became a movie Mark Logue - The King's Speech4. A book published this year Bertram Koeleman - Engels voor leugens 5. A book with a number in the title Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 4516. A book written by someone under 30 F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby7. A book with nonhuman characters Dave Eggers - The Wild Things8. A funny book Momo Kapor - A Guide to the Serbian Mentality9. A book by a female author Bregje Hofstede - De Hemel boven Parijs10. A mystery or thriller Bret Easton Ellis - American Psycho11. A book with a one-word title Susan Cain - Quiet 12. A book of short stories Emma Donoghue - Astray13. A book set in a different country Simone de Beauvoir - Misverstand in Moskou14. A nonfiction book Johan Huizinga - Homo Ludens 15. A popular author's first book Zadie Smith - White Teeth16. A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet Margaret Atwood - The Cat's Eye17. A book a friend recommended Stephen King - 11.22.6318. A Pulitzer Prize-winning book Michael Cunningham - The Hours19. A book based on a true story Truman Capote - In Cold Blood20. A book at the bottom of your to-read list Francois HaverSchmidt - Winteravondvertellingen21. A book your mom loves Donna Tart - The Goldfinch22. A book that scares you Boudewijn Büch - Het Dolhuis23. A book more than 100 years Old Sir Thomas Malory - Le Morte D'Arthur 24. A book based entirely on its cover Jessie Burton - The Miniaturist25. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't Samuel Richardson - Pamela26. A memoir Paul Auster - Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure27. A book you can finish in a day Danilo Kis - The Encyclopedia of the Dead28. A book with antonyms in the title Virginia Woolf - Night and Day29. A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit Alexandra Fuller - Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness 30. A book that came out the year you were born David Malouf - The Great World31. A book with bad reviews P.D. James - Death comes to Pemberley32. A trilogy (Book 1) Veronica Roth - Divergent33. A trilogy (Book 2) Veronica Roth - Insurgent34. A trilogy (Book 3) Veronica Roth - Allegiant35. A book from your childhood Rudyard Kipling - The Jungle Book36. A book with a love triangle Jutta Chorus - Afri: Leven in een migrantenwijk37. A book set in the future Ben Elton - Time and Time Again38. A book set in high school Johan Goossens - Wie heeft er wél een boek bij zich? 39. A book with a color in the title Mo Yan - Het rode korenveld40. A book that made you cry Mariëtte Willemsen - Denkbewegingen41. A book with magic Emma Donoghue - Een kus voor de heks 42. A graphic novel David Mazzucchelli - Asterios Polyp43. A book by an author you've never read before Suzanna Jansen - Het Pauperparadijs44. A book you own but have never read Coen Simon - Schuldgevoel45. A book that takes place in your hometown Victor Schiferli - Dromen van Schalkwijk46. A book that was originally written in a different language Joshua Foer - Het Geheugenpaleis / Moonwalking with Einstein47. A book set during Christmas Elizabeth H. Winthrop - December48. A book written by an author with your same initials Ito Ogawa - The Restaurant of Love Regained 49. A play J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child50. A banned book Salman Rushdie - The Satanic Verses51. A book based on or turned into a TV show Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell52. A book you started but never finished Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Autumn of the Patriarch

I recommend you read Relic, by Preston and Child, for #3. It's a fantastic book. Crappy movie, but great book! For #14, any of James Herriot's books. Though you should logically start with All Creatures Great and Small. They read like fiction, but are in the bio section of the non fiction at the library. #32-34 I highly recommend the Gypsy Morph trilogy by Terry Brooks. The beautifully blend dystopian society with Brooks' usual elements of fantasy. I read them this summer, in like 4 days, and they are not small books The first is called Armageddon's Children.

That sounds like a fun challenge! For #6, try The Outsiders or Rumble Fish, both by S. E. Hinton. She was 16 when she wrote and published the first one, and 18 or 19 when she wrote and published the second. And they're really good stories, too! (Both are also readable in a day and were made into movies and are by a female author.)

Can you tell us a little bit more about books you've read and enjoyed so that we can make better recommendations for you? (A couple years back, I got a lot of "Oh, you like to read? So you liked 50 Shades of Grey then? I heard it was really popular." I always thought -- but did not say, of course ! -- Yes, I like to read. No, I have not read that particular book and I am ABSOLUTELY NOT discussing erotica with a coworker/casual acquaintance/person who obviously has hidden creepy tendencies, go away. So I don't want to make a similarly awful suggestion to you.)

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is only one book in English, but it would absolutely work for the 500+ pages entry. It's also a really good story -- it's a fantasy novel that reads like a historical novel, and Susannah Clarke had written more than that and a few short stories. (She's still alive, she just hasn't written anything since about 2006.)